Loss

Losing a loved author is truly like losing a friend. Many great authors seem to put a bit of their own soul into their books, so any fan can gain an understanding of who that author is as a person, possibly more than they know many of their own friends or relatives. Of course the depth of the soul-leaving is heightened when a memoir writer like Frank McCourt passes away. 

J.D. Salinger passed away a few days ago at the age of 91, and although he was not one of my favorite authors, I respected his work and point of view. So losing J.D. Salinger was like losing a wise professor who probably didn't know my name, wouldn't recognize me if we passed on the street, but whose lectures made an impact on my point of view and flavored the lecture style of all my other professors. 

Opinionated

Now, I've always known that I have strong opinions, that I have a hard time not sharing and defending, however when it comes to my opinions on my own profession and on my daily routine (otherwise known as reflections) I have been oddly outwardly silent. But all of the sudden I have a post-it with a list of blog topics and reflections, and I actually find myself scripting posts throughout my day. 

And of course I have an opinion why.

This is my third year as a school librarian.* My first year, I was sick and pregnant and rather shell-shocked by the career switch to school librarian from 7th grade math teacher. My second year I was overwhelmed by having 2 kids, switching to a school with a longer job description, and starting the Library Media Education certification progress through MN State University, Mankato. So now it's my third year. I'm still sick a lot, I still have two kids, I work more than I did last year, and I'm just entering my fifth-straight quarter and internship at MNSU. I've learned a few things about my profession and myself in the last three years. I'll spare you all but the most important; I love my job. 

If I wasn't a teacher, I couldn't bear to leave my kids with their grandma during the week. No, that's not true. I didn't feel that way when I was a math teacher. If I didn't have the pleasure of working in a school Media Center, I couldn't bear to leave my kids during the week, nor could I push myself to finish my LME certification. I enjoy my classes because I enjoy the topics. I enjoy my long list of job responsibilities because I enjoy the tasks (and, no, my principal isn't reading this). And although I did have a few shirts sporting the irrational number Pi, never before would I have loved to have my profession advertised so much to be drooling over the merchandise on this website.

I'm quite smugly proud to be a librarian, and I'm finally growing into the librarian mantle. 

*note: school librarian vs. library media specialist is a topic listed on said post-it note

From here to there

I've had to really work on transitions, especially with the younger kids. Classically, transition from one activity to another is the hardest time for students to stay on-task, so I've really been working on how to minimize the stress of moving from here to there to wherever in the media center. When I had a full-time assistant a few years ago, I could manage student behavior during book check-out time while my assistant handled the checking-out (and most of the library maintenance). This year, with budget cuts I only have an assistant in the media center for 2 hours each day, inconveniently during the times that I have older students. 

I'm finally realizing that I have to be supremely structured about book check-out time, otherwise chaos ensues. My chance to observe my colleague Juanita James (at Pillsbury) enabled me to see how she handles her time with no help whatsoever. Once she got her kids settled in the project for the day, she dismissed groups to go check out books and bopped back and forth from working students to the circulation desk. I tried this a bit with my 4th graders last year, and it was fairly effective, however the layout of my media center with the computer lab a good piece away from the bookshelves made it nearly impossible to flutter between two groups of kids. So, I've trained. And had to create projects that make it easy for students to work independently (or get help from classmates) while I check out books. 

Sometimes that's more detailed than it seems necessary. For example, today I had to break up a group of first graders into thirds so that I could show them where books in their reading level were stored, and rely on my superb grouping skills (taking a third of the sassy kids with me in each group) so that the remaining workers were relatively well behaved.  It actually felt less chaotic than usual, and enabled me to help kids find books they like on a more individual basis, which I haven't had time to do before.  

Its definitely a work-in-progress, but I'm seeing progress.

Contemporary Angst

I'm reading The Bell Jar again. The intro by Frances McCullough struck me with some very interesting points. Plath's novel would not be half as interesting (or sad) if she hadn't killed herself shortly after its publication. Similarly, Anne Frank's Diary wouldn't be nearly as fascinating (or sad) if she had survived the Holocaust. It may, in fact, never have seen eyes other than Anne's aging ones.

Sometimes outside influences or knowledge of a story or author greatly influence our take on the story itself. 

That may be the same reason I have no interest in seeing any movies starring Tom Cruise. Outside information has tainted my view of his portrayed characters.

I do like the sad books. The ones that don't seem sad, that is (and there IS a difference). 

Sad books that don't seem sad 

(you know you should be sad, but are enjoying yourself too much):

The Bell Jar -Plath

The Diary of Anne Frank -Frank

White Oleander -Fisch

Angela's Ashes -McCourt

The Glass Castle -Walls

Cold Mountain -Frazier

I was recently asked whether, as a teacher in today's economy, I feel my job is threatened. I answered honestly that for the first time in 6 years, I have a sense of security in my position as a media specialist. I am the youngest media specialist (by at least a decade) in my very large district and while this does not bode well for my seniority, there is a very large group of my co-media specialists who are nearing retirement. And, let's face it, library media education is not something that many young college students even consider as a possible future career (I know I didn't). I am looking forward to what the future of my field has in store, as I have several decades left to climb the library media specialist beanstalk before I reach that seemingly mythological place in the clouds called retirement.

On that note, and after reading Essential Reference Services for Today's Media Specialists, specifically chapter 11 on evaluation, I think it is critical to not get complacent in my seeming security. I have long been a fan on informal surveys of my students to see how they think things are going in class, what I could improve on (they ALWAYS get this one 100% correct!), and what their favorite part of the class was. My district requires student and parent surveys to be given yearly by every professional seeking tenure, and in many ways I think it is a more relevant method of determining how effective a teacher is than standardized tests (and of course, as there is no MCA in library/media skills, there needs to be some measure to keep us accountable).

I'm not currently in a library that is used very often when it comes to reference, my clientele is more interested in finding the newest Junie B. Jones than anything else, so I worry a bit that my skills in being a reference librarian will grow quite rusty however I had the thought as I read chapter 11 that a "How Did We Do?" survey might be of good use. A modified version of the form on page 109 (I'm thinking simple 1-5 rating, it's what students are most familiar with) that with a simple "by the way, could you rate your experience here today and drop it in the box?" reference librarians could gain immense insight into their effectiveness. I'd probably even go so far as to put a big bowl of candy right next to the surveys to draw attention to it. Or better still, create an anonymous online survey that students can access anywhere and leave comments at their convenience (because if they can do it at SuperTarget, it must be a good idea).

Also one thing I appreciate in my district is the dedication to peer evaluation. All achievement of tenure candidates must go through a peer-coaching training. My biggest problem with this is that the vast majority of the time I am not being evaluated by peers that have any idea how a library media center is run. I like the ideas given on p. 111 but I think ultimately it is up to me to seek out job-alike peers to evaluate my performance, and take the time to observe other media professionals to gain insight into how they run things differently (and more efficiently in some cases).

Ultimately, as "a school media specialist, you have an obligation to be the expert at your school in current technologies" and effective reference practices. It does not do to become complacent, even if you feel secure in your job. The cliche "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well" comes to mind, and as cliche as it is, it is a truth worth remembering.

reference-phobia

I just had a breakthrough. I realized I've always had a fear of research papers, compounded by a heavy wariness of all things reference. Seriously. My pulse quickens a bit to just think of accessing information needed to adequately understand (and write about!) any given topic. Of course I do blame my k-12 education for this. Having been educated for 13 years in "open" programs, I literally did not know how to write a paper when I got to college, and nearly failed all of my freshman english classes as a result. I shudder when I think about Professor WhatsHerName's diabolical essay topics in Shakespeare 101. Yet by the time I graduated college I could whip out a 10 page paper on Atilla the Nun in Late Antiquity (definitely NOT her real name, I can't remember an iota of that woman's life, but I found her fascinating at the time). 

What happened? I discovered the internet.

And probably used it very poorly.

Research via the internet saved me. I passed my liberal arts courses, and my fear of reference was abated somewhat. But the fear still lingered, because I felt as if I had cheated somehow. My google-search based paper had earned me a B, but I had no way of knowing if the information I had accessed online was legitimate or not. Thankfully my nun paper was on a woman so obscure nobody would have bothered making anything up about her, and Wikipedia had yet to be invented. 

Now as a media specialist I am thrilled that I can show students a much more reliable source to find obscure and not-so-obscure information. Trustworthy information. And free to all Minnesotans. 

Seriously.

ELM (the Electronic Library of Minnesota) has essentially compiled all those stuffy, dusty, scholarly journals into one (relatively) easy to access from your La-Z-Boy via laptop location. Any topic that has been written about is catalogued in ELM's databases in some form or another, and with your MN library card number, you can find it, or at least find where to find it. You can often download a PDF of applicable articles (perfect for procrastinators) or read abstracts of pertinent articles which are fairly simple to get via interlibrary loan (just ask your local librarian for help with this one) if it's not easily available. 

Check out Elm4you.org be you scholarly, or research-phobic like me. Click on the Help link on the left, and then check out the Tutorials for a quick run-through of how the ELM databases work. 

There is a lot of information out there. Thank goodness someone had the sense to organize it for us. 

a card in the hand?

It's ironic really. The more dependent we become on web-based technology, the more easily accessible books become. Library websites (and WebPACs) are becoming the norm for most libraries. From small schools to large public libraries, patrons can not only access their account, but they can search for any book they might want to read, see how many copies are available (and where), request books, find related books, and even write reviews. Reading has become increasingly interactive, thanks to technology. 

I have one faint memory of shuffling through the small drawers in a card catalog, and I vaguely recall having to use a MicroFiche at the big Minneapolis Public Library downtown. As a child and teen the way I found books at my library was by wandering up and down the aisles, my fingers on the spines, until I found a spine that was more intriguing than its neighbors. It seemed the best way to me at the time. 

As an adult, I am increasingly envious of what today's children have access to. The interaction available through WebPACs, online book clubs, author websites (which usually include chat rooms where you can discuss your favorite character or even write your own fan fiction), and the World Wide Web has transformed reading from a solitary activity into something much bigger. A quick Google-search of a favorite author might lead a reader on a virtual journey of the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, which might prompt a family vacation to Walnut Grove. Or a school media specialist might see that James and the Giant Peach has been listed in the Top Ten Books in Our Library section of her WebPAC, which might lead to ordering more books by Roald Dahl, which could then lead to the formation of a Roald Dahl Book Club. 

A caution, however: the more dependent we become on our technology, the more lost we become when it fails us. As wonderful as the internet is, it's foundation built of books cannot be taken for granted.